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TRANSCENDING MATTER<br />

YOO BONG SANG | SEO YOUNG-DEOK | LEE GIL RAE


TRANSCENDING MATTER<br />

YOO BONG SANG | SEO YOUNG-DEOK | LEE GIL RAE<br />

22/03 – 12/04/2018


PREFACE<br />

<strong>Transcending</strong> <strong>Matter</strong> is a mixed exhibition curated by Opera Gallery Hong<br />

Kong around recent works by three Korean artists: Yoo Bong Sang, Seo<br />

Young-Deok and Lee Gil Rae. These artists share the common, perplexingly<br />

intricate, usage of heavy metal within the creation of their artworks, the<br />

results of which defy the properties of the base element. Seo Young-Deok<br />

uses steel chain, Yoo Bong Sang uses nails and Lee Gil Rae's predilection is<br />

for wrought copper. In contradiction however, are the ephemeral subjects<br />

that they each choose to evoke, which include a range of natural forms,<br />

from trees to the human body.<br />

Yoo Bong Sang is the master of light. He guides light to shimmer and dance<br />

on the surface of his representational wall based art works made of a relief<br />

of thousands and thousands of nails pierced in to a support. Seo Young-<br />

Deok imprisons space within metal chain to create volume and form. His<br />

sculptures often represent anonymous and stylised human archetypes<br />

that are extremely expressive and sensitive, rendered as if captured midbreath<br />

in transition. Lee Gil Rae's welded copper trees, reflect back to us a<br />

symbolic world, where we are also reminded of more pertinent ecological<br />

concerns. Lee uses a multitude of hand wrought metallic rings to render<br />

vegetal forms, bringing to life the inert material through intricate assembly<br />

of form and the ensuing play of shadows and light that they create.<br />

In each case, these three artists are indisputable masters of their<br />

idiosyncratic art form and each demonstrate with unparalleled dexterity<br />

and technique how to shape matter so that it goes beyond its initial<br />

properties in order to express a wider concern. Through their artistic<br />

calling, the physical limits of the media are stretched, symbolism is added<br />

and a vision is presented that transcends matter.<br />

It is with delight and pleasure that we bring you this exhibition of<br />

outstanding works from these three extraordinary contemporary artists<br />

Gilles Dyan<br />

Chairman and Founder of Opera Gallery Group<br />

Sharlane Foo<br />

Director of Opera Gallery Hong Kong<br />

3


LEE GIL RAE (B. 1961)<br />

Lee Gil Rae was born in Yeongam-gun, South Korea in 1961.<br />

He graduated with bachelor and masters degrees in fine art<br />

and sculpture from Kyunghee University in Seoul, Korea. For<br />

the past twenty years, Lee has followed nature as his muse,<br />

crafting intricate, organic, tree-form sculptures from steel<br />

and copper pipes, in response to continued deforestation,<br />

depletion of natural resources and environment crisis. Lee<br />

Gil Rae's trees are made with permanence in mind. They have<br />

become an artificial simulation of nature, urbanised and<br />

visionary, transforming the physical properties of plant life<br />

into modern, mechanical forms. Lee Gil Rae has participated<br />

in numerous exhibitions worldwide and features in numerous<br />

private and public collections.<br />

4


Pine Tree, 2016<br />

Welded copper<br />

115 x 83 x 25 cm I 45.3 x 32.7 x 9.8 in<br />

7


Old Pine Tree, 2015<br />

Welded copper<br />

212 x 170 x 20 cm I 83.5 x 66.9 x 7.9 in<br />

8


Above<br />

Pine Tree, 2013<br />

Welded copper<br />

110 x 104 x 7 cm I 43.3 x 41 x 2.8 in<br />

Left<br />

Human Shaped Pine Tree, 2015<br />

Welded copper<br />

200 x 80 x 73 cm I 78.7 x 31.5 x 28.7 in<br />

11


Pine Tree, 2013<br />

Welded copper<br />

210 x 115 x 59 cm I 82.7 x 45.3 x 23.2 in<br />

13


SEO YOUNG DEOK (B. 1983)<br />

Born in 1983 in Korea, Seo Young-Deok graduated from the department<br />

of Environmental Sculpture at the University of Seoul in 2009 and gained<br />

prominence through his sculptural exploration of the human form through<br />

unconventional materials such as metal chain, a material that has been<br />

critical to the development of the modern world and Korea's manufacturing<br />

industry. Inspired by his own rural upbringing in contrast to his urban<br />

adult life, Seo Young-Deok’s use of chain questions the industrialization<br />

of labor that has become synonymous with today’s human condition. Each<br />

iron piece is welded together to become a part of the dynamic system of<br />

organic connectivity exhibited under human forms; while the material may<br />

be physically strong, its structural completeness is what exudes strength of<br />

the human spirit. By constantly weighting the dichotomy between 'complete’<br />

and ‘incomplete’ existence, Seo Young-Deok addresses the inevitable social<br />

inequalities of the industrial system.<br />

15


Anguish 19, 2015<br />

Stainless chain<br />

95 x 70 x 50 cm I 37.4 x 27.6 x 19.7 in<br />

Edition of 8<br />

16


Anguish 14, 2013<br />

Iron chain<br />

75 x 45 x 65 cm I 29.5 x 17.7 x 25.6 in<br />

Edition of 8<br />

18


Meditation 19, 2015<br />

Iron chain<br />

100 x 90 x 45 cm I 39.4 x 35.4 x 17.8<br />

Edition of 8<br />

20


Anguish 18, 2013<br />

Stainless chain<br />

95 x 45 x 70 cm I 37.4 x 17.7 x 27.6 in<br />

Edition of 8<br />

22


Meditation 2, 2009<br />

Iron chain<br />

130 x 90 x 45 cm I 51.2 x 35.4 x 17.7 in<br />

Edition of 8<br />

25


YOO BONG SANG (B. 1960)<br />

Yoo Bong Sang was born in Korea in 1960 where he still resides. He trained<br />

at the Seoul National University after which he spent a number of years<br />

living and working in France. Yoo's artworks combine the artist’s vision,<br />

his own photography and a laborious process, which involves penetrating<br />

a support of plywood on welded aluminium with thousands and thousands<br />

of nails in order to create the pixels of an image. On average 300,000 pins<br />

are used to create these perplexing and beguiling images. Yoo Bong Sang<br />

was the recipient of the Pollock-Krasner Foundation Grant in 2001, and<br />

has been featured in numerous solo exhibitions in museums and galleries<br />

throughout Korea and Europe.


JEAN20170822, 2017<br />

headless pins and acrylic on wood<br />

60 x 120 cm I 23.6 x 47.2 in<br />

28 29


HAN20170105, 2017<br />

headless pins and acrylic on wood<br />

80 x 200 cm I 31.5 x 78.7 in<br />

YG20160816, 2016<br />

headless pins and acrylic on wood<br />

47 x 120 cm I 18.5 x 47.2 in


JJ20170808, 2017<br />

headless pins and acrylic on wood<br />

90 x 360 cm I 35.4 x 141.7 in<br />

33


CY20150917, 2015<br />

headless pins and acrylic on wood<br />

50 x 120 cm I 19.7 x 47.2<br />

35


KJ20130310, 2013<br />

headless pins and acrylic on wood<br />

150 x 200 cm I 59 x 78.7 in<br />

36<br />

37


CATH20120321, 2012<br />

nails and acrylic on wood<br />

150 x 100 cm I 59 x 39.4 in<br />

38


E20101001, 2010<br />

nails and acrylic on wood<br />

50 x 120 cm I 19.7 x 47.2<br />

41


M20090510, 2009<br />

nails and acrylic on wood<br />

110 x 300 cm I 43.3 x 118.1 in<br />

43


M2004, 2004<br />

charcoal powder and nails on wood<br />

47 x 120 cm I 18.5 x 47.2 in<br />

45


Published by Opera Gallery to coincide with the exhibition <strong>Transcending</strong> <strong>Matter</strong>, Hong Kong, March 23 - April 12, 2018<br />

All rights reserved. Except for the purposes of review, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in<br />

any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.<br />

We would like to thank the artists for their trust. We would also like to thank all our collectors for their kind support throughout the years.<br />

Coordinators: Aurélie Heuzard, Lou Mo, Tom Masson<br />

Photography: Courtesy of Opera Gallery and the artists<br />

Cover: Yoo Bong Sang, M2004, 47 x 120 cm, 2004 (detail)<br />

W Place, 52 Wyndham Street, Central, Hong Kong<br />

+ 852 2810 1208 | hkg@operagallery.com operagallery.com<br />

47

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